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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27030649">A Blazing Hearth</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arcylic/pseuds/Arcylic'>Arcylic</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Dear Fellow Traveller [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Metal Fight Beyblade | Beyblade Metal Saga</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Beginning of Friendship, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Ryuuga cares but he would stab himself (or get killed by a god of destruction) before he admitted it, Set before the fish sharing scene, That's a big part of this, sorta - Freeform, warmth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:28:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27030649</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arcylic/pseuds/Arcylic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
      <p>Inspiration and nostalgia gave me the good ol' one-two and this is the result. </p><p>I loved beyblade way back when, and even if I wasn't quite young enough when I saw it to watch with without a few eye rolls I remember how it pulled me in and didn't let go until the very very end. And hoo boy what an end that was. I'm not ashamed to say I cried. </p><p>A lot</p><p>Even back then I had a lot of ideas for how I would've liked the finale to go but I wasn't quite confident enough in my writing skills to make anything of them. But since I've been having a lot of stress lately I decided to dust off the old classic and rewatch my favorite episodes- most of which involved Ryuuga in some way. </p><p>I still rolled my eyes. I was still pulled in at once. </p><p>I'm not entirely sure when he became my favorite character but I know that the episodes featuring his interactions with Kenta contributed a lot and that that in turn contributed a lot to why I liked the show. So in honor of that I offer y'all this little thing.</p><p>Enjoy.</p>
    </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kishatu Ryuuga &amp; Yumiya Kenta</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Dear Fellow Traveller [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972744</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Blazing Hearth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25314199">“...Since You’ve Gone Away...”</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arthuria_PenDragon/pseuds/Arthuria_PenDragon">Arthuria_PenDragon</a>.
        </li>
        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/13196271">Recovering Heart</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornTalesLol/pseuds/UnicornTalesLol">UnicornTalesLol</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Inspiration and nostalgia gave me the good ol' one-two and this is the result. </p><p>I loved beyblade way back when, and even if I wasn't quite young enough when I saw it to watch with without a few eye rolls I remember how it pulled me in and didn't let go until the very very end. And hoo boy what an end that was. I'm not ashamed to say I cried. </p><p>A lot</p><p>Even back then I had a lot of ideas for how I would've liked the finale to go but I wasn't quite confident enough in my writing skills to make anything of them. But since I've been having a lot of stress lately I decided to dust off the old classic and rewatch my favorite episodes- most of which involved Ryuuga in some way. </p><p>I still rolled my eyes. I was still pulled in at once. </p><p>I'm not entirely sure when he became my favorite character but I know that the episodes featuring his interactions with Kenta contributed a lot and that that in turn contributed a lot to why I liked the show. So in honor of that I offer y'all this little thing.</p><p>Enjoy.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rain in the wilderness had a different tempo than in the city, Kenta had discovered. Not louder, exactly, but clearer. And without buildings to obscure the sky and car fumes to muddle the air, you could see it coming from much farther away; and if you didn’t see it you could feel it in the growing coldness and dampness of the air. Today Kenta could both see it and feel it, an ominous bank of bruise-grey clouds rolling across the sky.</p><p>The storm had been a looming possibility all day and it finally materialized sometime in late afternoon with a steady pitter-patter of raindrops. It wasn’t a downpour yet but it was well on its way to one. Usually this would be the point where Ryuuga started looking for some thick cluster of trees to keep more or less dry and reduce the risk of hypothermia. But this time there was no forest, only sheer cliffs, a few lonely spindly shrubberies and a deep green grass sprouting white flowers from place to place. Eventually an outcropping of rock showed up that kept the rain at bay reasonably enough, through it didn’t do much for the icy chill that was starting to sweep in as the sun set behind the clouds and the rain showed no signs of abating.</p><p>Ryuuga didn’t look bothered by it through, sitting down on the stone with one leg stretched out in front of him and the other hiked up almost to his chest. He’d taken out a small cloth from one of the dozens of inner pockets it turned out his coat had and was slowly wiping down his gauntlet, making sure he got to the spaces between the molded parts and stretching his hand out into the rain to wet the cloth every once in a while.</p><p>For his part Kenta huddled as far away as he could without going back out in the rain, with his cloak wrapped tightly around himself trying to preserve some of the heat. He wished there was a fire; even if he hadn’t quite dared come closer to the others Ryuuga had built he would’ve appreciated the light. But without something to protect it from the wind any fire would’ve almost certainly gone out.</p><p>So here he was, shivering miserably and praying that the rain would at least abate by morning so they wouldn’t be stuck here for another day in addition to a night. Every once in a while a particularly cold gust of wind would blow in and his teeth would chatter uselessly for a few seconds before it died down.</p><p>The change happened slowly; so slowly that it took him an embarrassingly long time to notice it. Slowly he started to unclench his hands from where they’d been fisted in the fabric of his cloak and his shoulders stopped being quite so high up his ears. Then his knees started stretching out just the tiniest bit and the pain that had slowly been building up in his thighs and calves started dying down. Slowly, slowly he stopped shivering and through the wind outside hadn’t stopped at all- had gotten stronger in fact- his teeth stopped chattering whenever a chilly breeze blew in.</p><p>It was only when he’d untested enough to set his hands down in his lap and try to rub some feeling back in the knuckles that he realized that the reason he wasn’t cold anymore was because- he wasn’t cold. It wasn’t cold anymore, at least not inside the little outcropping him and Ryuuga had found for themselves. It also wasn’t, Kenta noticed, so damp anymore. Only storm in front, only cold rock at their back, but heat had to be coming from <em>somewhere </em>which meant...</p><p>Kenta looked at Ryuuga. He’d taken off the gauntlet from around his forearm and moved on from polishing the front of it to polishing the underside and checking the straps for wear and tear. As subtly as he could he tried to scoot a little closer, tense and poised to draw back at the slightest disapproving look.</p><p>He scooted closer and closer and, sure enough, what was originally a vaguely chilly temperature became an indoors temperature, became a summer afternoon. Kenta didn’t dare come closer but he had a feeling that anywhere near Ryuuga felt like being inches from a bonfire.</p><p>He watched, trying not to stare, as Ryuuga stretched his hand out into the rain again. It didn’t hiss out of existence a few millimeters before touching him like Kenta had half-expected it to, but water it dried incredibly quickly once it did touch him, like pointing a hairdryer at wet skin. By the time he put the cloth to gold it was almost dry and he had to wet it once again. It stuck Kenta that it must’ve been annoying and the small furrow in between Ryuuga’s brows seemed to indicate the same.</p><p>Kenta wondered why he’d made himself so warm if it prevented him from the task he’d set himself at. Maybe he didn’t want water getting in between the cracks and <em>staying </em>there so he made sure it all evaporated by turning up the heat. Or maybe he was annoyed enough that he didn’t notice that he was doing it; through loosing enough control to create this level of heat was unlike Ryuuga.</p><p><em>At least he probably won't set anything on fire, considering the weather,</em> Kenta thought.</p><p>Still, he appreciated the warmth and the way his clothes started drying after a few minutes of sitting closer to the other.</p><p>Like this, with the warmth emanating from Ryuuga enveloping him even the rain seemed less harsh outside, the sound turning from sharp to comforting, every drop ringing out like bells, echoes repeated over and over among the sheer cliffs. Eventually, he took his cloak off and folded it up into a pillow to rest his head on as he lied back against the rocky wall and let himself drift off into a deep sleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The limits of Ryuuga's powers are very poorly defined and I intend to use that to the fullest for my own purposes.</p><p>Title comes from a Van Goth quote "One may have a blazing hearth in one's soul and yet no one ever came to sit by it. Passers-by see only a wisp of smoke from the chimney and continue on their way."</p><p>Come scream at me in the comments if it strikes your fancy.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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